2. Exhortation Based on the Contrast Between Jesus and Angels (2:1–4)
2:1–4 The “therefore” in 2:1 introduces an important conclusion to the writer’s statement about the status of Jesus. We must give serious attention to him—or suffer the sad consequences for failing to do so. Although angels have been sent as “servant spirits,” intimately involved in human ventures, God has backed their word and work, punishing all who refused to honor what those servant spirits were sent to accomplish. The word Jesus has given is the ultimate and final word from God, and is therefore indispensable. It is the word about salvation, and in its richest dimensions, a salvation brought into effect and fully guaranteed only for those who seriously listen to Jesus and look to him with right understanding about who he is. The exhortation is a warning about what is lost by those who, having heard the message about salvation, selfishly and faithlessly “drift away [from it].”
3. The Son’s Relation to Believers (2:5–18)
2:5–18 Having completed his preliminary statement about the superiority of Jesus over angels, and having issued a warning not to be part of the awesome fate of those who neglect the witness and work provided by the Son of God, the writer moves on in 2:5–18 to begin a discussion about how the Son stands related to those who do believe on him.
In this section of Hebrews we get our first insight from the writer about the extent to which Jesus as Son fully identifies with our humanity and its attendant experiences. Like the first humans, Jesus lived for a while “lower [in condition] than angels” (2:9), but unlike them he never failed the high purpose for which he entered the world. He too had to live by faith, by a steady trust in God as he lived his way across the years. The writer documents the Son’s need for faith by quoting Isaiah 8:17b, using it at 2:13 as a confessional word from the Son about his life under God—“I [myself] will firmly trust in him.” The writer thus accents attention upon Jesus as religious subject in order to highlight the importance of Jesus as religious object. In so doing, the writer’s insight into the human experience of Jesus accents his obedience in pilgrimage; it shows him as a figure of hope for those who look to him as the worthy “pioneer of their deliverance” (2:10). In looking to Jesus, the writer asserts, we can maintain our bearings, discern our possibilities, and anticipate our future. That future will ultimately involve life within another order which God has planned for his people: thus the expression “the coming world [order]” (2:5), a world (Gk. oikoumene, “inhabited, ordered community”) under the manifest lordship of Jesus as exalted Son, now raised above the present world order and “crowned with glory and honor because of the [particular] death he suffered” (2:9). The sovereignty humans lost by sinning stands modeled in him in his victory over temptation, sin, and death. Jesus now heads the household of the faithful who will inherit the new order when this old earth order passes away.
What Jesus accomplished benefits all who identify with him. Jesus was a “pioneer” in our interest, intent to lead “many sons to glory” by his delivering deed of salvation. The “many sons” are, with him, full members of the very family of God. This was the concern of the incarnation. Jesus wanted to identify fully with humans in our plight, even becoming subject to death, so that he could make death itself his victim—from inside the experience. According to 2:14–16, the grand result for believers is release from the fear of death. Angels did not need such help; humans did, and Jesus eagerly made that help available.
At 2:17–18, the high priesthood theme is introduced to highlight further the great ministry of Jesus to believers. It is the theme the writer will continue to unfold and accent across the bulk of the letter. It is the rather extended treatment of this theme, together with the many details connected with the Day of Atonement ritual, which provides grounds for viewing this writing as written to and for Hebrews. (This letter is the only New Testament writing that explains the ministry of Jesus in terms of a high priesthood.) As one who suffered the round of human experience, Jesus can represent us well since he understands and identifies with our needs; he is before us as a victorious winner and with us as a sympathetic and strategic helper. The believer need only cry out for his assistance.
B. Superiority of the Son over Moses and Joshua (3:1–4:13)
1. The Son Greater Than Servants in the Household (3:1–6)
3:1–6 Having set forth the high rank and great ministry of Jesus on behalf of his people, the writer issues an exhortation “consider Jesus.” That word “consider” (Gk. katanoesate ) was a call to fix the mind and heart upon him. The titles that follow increase the weight of his exampleship and importance for the believer. Jesus is “apostle” and “high priest” of our confession. This introduces a planned comparison between Jesus and Moses, the point being to show that Jesus has a superior ministry to that of Moses. Although both Moses and Jesus held appointments from God, were faithful to their calling, were deliverers of their people, established covenants, were suffering servants, and had face-to-face dealings with God, the ministry of Jesus was superior because he is Son, while Moses was but a servant within the household of God. The confession of the church centers in Jesus, who is God’s superior messenger (“apostle”) and the perfect representative of the needy people (“high priest”). In both instances of service, Jesus acts on behalf of others. Thus, however great others have been in their service for God, Jesus is worthy of greater honor. Problems abound when Jesus is not properly “considered,” when his personhood and ministry are not kept in proper focus. As Son, Jesus presides over the “house[hold] of God” (3:5–6). The belonging is conditional: it happens through faith and steady “confidence and pride in our hope.” A right pride in belonging stimulates faithfulness to the family name and leadership.
2. Exhortation Based on the Contrast (3:7–19)
3:7–19 The second warning section of the letter begins at 3:7–4:2. This section recalls Israel’s failure in the wilderness, and the sad consequences of that failure by a people called by God to live as his nation.
The writer quotes Psalm 95:7–11 as he reported God’s displeasure with the generation that provoked him by its waywardness and sin. It was a generation that lacked a listening ear for God’s word. That generation was united in a shared sin, and its members fell in a shared fate. God let them succeed at sinning, but the gains were fleshly and destructive. The gains of sin are always deadly, making the disobedient losers. God had offered them “rest,” but their sinning blocked the benefits of the offer.
3. The “Rest of God” Explained (4:1–10)
4:1–10 The privilege God offered the earlier generation still remains open. The promise God originally made still holds: one can “enter God’s rest.” Our period of time does not make us “come short” (Gk. husterekenai, “arrive too late”) of it because the promise about “rest” involved something more than settling peacefully in the geographical spot called Canaan. The “good news” about rest involves more than a promised land; it involves a promised life in the will of God. The levels of fulfillment in the promise begin to be experienced when the promise meets with “faith in [on the part of] the hearer.” Israel first heard the promise, which included cessation of warfare after victory over the enemies blocking their entrance into Canaan, but that generation did not even enter Canaan “because of unbelief” (3:19). God was not obligated to bless those who resisted his terms, but neither was he so displeased that he withdrew the offer of rest. A future realization was implied in the promise, and at the highest level of fulfillment. Possessing Canaan was not all that God had in mind for ancient Israel, and salvation here and now is not all that God has planned for believers now, the writer explains. The people of God will enjoy a coming “Sabbath Rest” at the dawning of “another day” (4:8b), the reference here being to the ultimate life with God.
4. Exhortation to Full Obedience (4:11–13)
4:11–13 “Let us be eagerly diligent (Gk. spoudazo, “concentrate with eager interest to succeed”), therefore, to enter into that rest.”
A full striving will mean staying